Section 526 of the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007 (H.R.6)1
provides:

No Federal agency shall enter into
a contract for procurement of an alternative or synthetic
fuel, including a fuel produced from nonconventional
petroleum sources, for any mobility related use, other
than for research or testing, unless the contract
specifies that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions
associated with the production and combustion of the fuel
supplied under the contract must, on an ongoing basis, be
less than or equal to such emissions from the equivalent
conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum
sources.

This provision assures that federal
agencies are not spending taxpayer dollars to promote new
fuel sources that will exacerbate global warming. It was
included in the legislation in response to proposals
under consideration by the Air Force to develop
coal-to-liquid fuels, but applies to all federal
agencies.

Air Force officials have stated
repeatedly that the Air Force does not intend to pursue
the development of coal-to-liquids fuels with higher
greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuel. Absent
application of advanced control technology,
coal-to-liquid fuels are estimated to produce almost
double the greenhouse gas emissions of the comparable
conventional fuel. Section 526 applies to fuels derived
from unconventional petroleum sources such as tar sands,
which produce significantly higher greenhouse gas
emissions than are produced by comparable fuel produced
from conventional petroleum sources.

Aug 9 2008 - - The 12,000 member
Crow Tribe in Montana has signed a 50-year development
deal with American Energy Company, a subsidiary of
Australian Energy Company, to build a $7 billion plant to
convert coal into liquid diesel fuel. It would be among
the first such projects in the nation. The plant will be
called 'Many Stars' and initially would produce 50,000
barrels a day of diesel and other fuels. Future
expansions of the Many Stars plant could eventually bump
up production to as much as 125,000 barrels of fuel a
day. Coal for the project would come from a mine yet to
be developed by the tribe on the reservation.
Approximately one ton of coal would be needed for every
barrel of fuel produced by the plant.

The agreement calls for the Crow to
receive up to 50 percent of profits from the plant after
investors in the project recoup their costs. Total
proceeds to the tribe could eventually top $1 billion
annually  a sum that dwarfs the Crow's current
annual budget of about $26 million. The Crow reservation
sits atop some of the nation's largest coal reserves
 an estimated 9 billion tons of recoverable
resources. Yet only limited mining has occurred, and the
tribe's economy remains hobbled by high rates of poverty
and unemployment.

No large-scale coal-to-liquids
plants have been built in the United States, although
several are proposed or on the drawing boards in Wyoming,
Ohio, West Virginia and elsewhere. South Africa is home
to the only existing commercial-scale coal-to-liquids
plants, built during the apartheid era after oil imports
into the country were blocked by international political
sanctions. (Source: Associated Press)